


Christmas At Hogwarts

by MarshmallowFictionVision



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter RPF
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Chess, Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Duelling, Fluff, Fun, Idiots in Love, M/M, Out of Character Draco Malfoy, POV Harry Potter, Sweet, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21785470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshmallowFictionVision/pseuds/MarshmallowFictionVision
Summary: It's the Christmas holidays at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry can't wait! Finally all of his closest friends are staying as well and they have some big plans to have fun and make chaos.Little do they know, someone else is staying behind as well for the first time.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	1. Wait, why is Malfoy here!?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Welcome to my Christmas fanfic! I aim for it to be 6 chapters long with some art to go along with each chapter (if I have time). So enjoy! Have fun! Much love to all who read this! =D x

Harry rolled his shoulders and stretched in his cozy bed. Last day before the Christmas holidays, so everyone who wasn't staying would be packing by now to head home. He smiled softly to himself, another Christmas at Hogwarts. One of the most magical times of the year in the only place he has truly called home. Soon the castle would be almost empty again. The corridors would be quiet, the common room would be peaceful, and Draco Malfoy would be far far away. If Harry was honest with himself, that last part was what he was most looking forward to. No more childish insults from across the classrooms, the Halls, the Quidditch Pitch, or anywhere else. At least for a little while.

Well actually, Draco wasn't quite that bad anymore. Yes he still glared at Harry and insulted him sometimes but his bullying had decreased over the years. Still, Harry was glad he would have a break from him for a little while. Ron snored loudly from the bed beside him and he chuckled softly. He was glad his best friend was staying behind this year as well, along with Nevil, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and a few others. Sitting up he saw that Dean and Seamus had both already packed and were probably in the common room by now. Harry wasn't up late, so he guessed they both got up really early and were probably having some time alone downstairs, as if everyone didn't already know they were together. He decided he would rather not rush to disturb the two of them so he got changed into his uniform slowly before attempting to wake Neville and Ron.

Neville wasn't that difficult to rouse, Harry just shook him once and he was up straight away. Ron on the other hand, that was a more difficult task. First they tried shaking him, but that didn't work. So Harry threw a pillow at him, and that still didn't work. In the end he and Neville decided to see how many things they could stack onto Ron before he woke up. So, chuckling as quietly as possible, they sat on Harry's bed and used Wingardium Leviosa to lift random objects and place them on their snoozing friend. A sock, a shoe, a chair, Dean's trunk, another chair, and finally Hedwig, who squawked when Harry placed her down and caused Ron to wake with a start. Neville and Harry spent the next five minutes laughing their heads off as the various objects clattered to the floor and Ron shouted obscenities at them whilst getting dressed messily.

Soon they were all dressed and ready so they headed down to the common room to join the others. Dean and Seamus were blushing into their respective books on opposite sofas and both soon rushed upstairs when the other boys had come down saying something about making sure they had packed everything, as if that was the actual reason. Ginny and Hermione sat on the sofas together laughing about some books they were reading till they heard the boys heading down and Dean and Seamus leave.

"Took you long enough." Hermione announced with a raised eyebrow.

"And we heard a lot of laughing and a huge crash, what happened?" Ginny added. Ron made a disgruntled huffing sound and Harry and Neville had to stifle laughs.

"Nothing really, we were just trying to wake Ron up. As you can tell it took a while." Harry chuckled softly and got a smack on the arm from Ron.

"Two bloody chairs! You put two bloody chairs on me!" Harry couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. Neville decided to list off everything else they stacked on the sleeping Weasley as well, making Ginny laugh and almost getting Hermione to cave too but she held it down.

"Come on we need to head down to breakfast before we're late." She said, desperate to be punctual, as per usual. The rest pf the group nodded in agreement but Ron was still annoyed with his rude awakening.

"I'm gonna get you back for that, both of you."

"Good luck with that Ronald." Ginny teased, "You'd never wake up before Harry, and when he is awake you're no match for him."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're his number one fan sis." Ron began impersonating her in that rude way only a sibling could get away with. "Oh you're friends with Harry!? Please introduce us I really want to meet him!" That, rightfully so, earned him a hard slap on the arm from his sister. Harry smiled broadly, everything was as it should be in his little friend group, and he couldn't wait to spend the whole Christmas holiday together with them. The whole Castle to themselves! The excitement was almost overwhelming as they all rushed down the moving staircases and along to the Great Hall to take their seats.

Dumbledore's Christmas speech was excited, cryptic and insane, as per usual, and everyone clapped, as per usual, before the food appeared and they all tucked in. Ron ate way too many bacon sandwiches than Harry thought possible for a human to consume, Neville made a complete mess of his uniform with ketchup, Hermione was reprimanding everyone, and Harry was having the best Christmas already. Unfortunately the icy glares he could sense from across the Hall were a little off putting. Sure enough, when he looked up, Draco and his little gang were glaring at the Gryffindor table. He sneered and smirked at Harry and so Harry pulled as much of a disdainful yet pitying look as he could manage. In a way he was a little sad for the Slytherins that they had nothing better to do than glare at him. He smiled, his mood undamped, and carried on with breakfast.

A few minutes later it was announced that the coaches would be arriving soon, and so the Great Hall began to empty as everyone rushed to check their trunks and gather their remaining things to leave for the holidays. Harry and his friends rushed up as well, all eager to change out of their uniforms, Neville especially, and into their cozy winter clothes. The Castle did get quite cold this time of year but Harry enjoyed that as well. It just meant getting to wrap up warm and cozy by the fire, which just made the whole place feel even more homely. Harry put his dark blue 'H' jumper on that Mrs Weasley made him in first year, he hadn't grown that much since then actually so it still fit him, just a little more snugly than before, with a nice and comfy collared shirt underneath. Ron looked a mess, as always, and Neville was wearing his signature cardigan. They headed back down to meet the girls and Ginny mentioned that she said they would meet Luna down in the Great Hall after they had changed. Harry had no objections to this, Luna was a good friend of his as well and though the common room was cozy, the Great Hall was always a fun place to hang out over the holidays. So he grabbed his chess set and down they went to play a few games and wait for it to snow enough for a properly massive snowball war, the main event they had planned for the holidays. The girls had already decided they would utterly annihilate the boys, and Harry knew this was true, but he would rally the others and put up a good fight nonetheless.

However, when they reached the Hall, Harry had to stop himself and Ron from exclaming WHAT!? at the top of their lungs. Draco was still sat at the Slytherin table, all alone now, reading a book. Harry dragged everyone to the Gryffindor table, where Luna was sat by the fire, and tried to make them all act normal. Which didn't last long at all.

"What the bloody hell is he doing still here!?" Ron whisper yelled to everyone as Harry tried to set up chess.

"It doesn't matter just leave it and lets play." Harry tried to defuse the situation, but it didn't really work.

"I don't know, but I don't like it much." Hermione interjected.

"He never stays behind!" Ginny protested as quietly as she could manage, which wasn't very quiet at all. "Maybe he's planning something horrid?"

"Maybe we should just stop talking about him." Neville added with a sense of urgency, clearly as uncomfortable as Harry with the idea of discussing this within possible earshot of the boy in question. Harry glanced behind him to check if Draco was looking their direction. He wasn't. His head was still buried in his book and he was clearly focused on it, but Harry still didn't like talking about him when he was so close by.

"Come on guys, let's just play. Neville? Me vs you first?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood. Neville nodded, but the others still seemed stiff in their suspicions and Harry could tell this conversation was, unfortunately, far from over.

The group managed to talk about other things for a little while. Ron even backseat gamed for a little while as Neville and Harry played their game of chess. Neville was actually holding his own pretty well, and Harry was having a good time when Ron didn't interject. Unfortunately, the rest of the group ran out of things to talk about and Ron ran out of frustrating comments to make about the game. So conversation returned to the lone Slytherin.

"Maybe he's here because we are? He's been sent to ruin our Christmas or something." Ron said accusingly, very obviously staring at the boy in the opposite corner of the Hall. Harry sighed and tried to just carry on with his game, but Neville was clearly getting anxious about the situation as well.

"Guys please just stop. Whatever he's doing it really doesn't matter let's just have a nice Christmas. Please?" But the others were too busy theorising and accusing, and slowly getting louder and louder. Until the inevitable happened.

Harry heard the loud snap of a book closing and fast footfall behind him, and turned to see Malfoy walking quickly towards the entrance of the Great Hall. Feeling guilty about the behaviour of his friends, but against his better judgement, he got up and went after the Slytherin, calling out to get him to wait. "Draco! Wait! Hold on a second!" Much to his surprise, the boy did stop, and wait there until Harry caught up. He was hugging the book close to his chest and still wearing his emerald green uniform. All words suddenly evaded the Gryffindor as he stood opposite his long time arch nemesis. "Uh… um… I just… I was wondering… uhhh…" Draco just stared at him, one eyebrow raised in confusion, but Harry was glad for the silence as he managed to form a full sentence. "I was wondering if you'd like to join us? Play a round of chess or something?" Harry was expecting him to huff in his face and insult him before storming off indignantly. But he didn't. He stood there confused a moment before glancing at the table where the group were sat. Harry followed his gaze and saw Ron, Ginny and Hermione glaring at the Slytherin. Neville and Luna weren't, but still, three glaring people isn't a nice sight to see. He looked back at the boy in front of him apologetically.

"I think I'll pass Potter. But thanks I guess." Malfoy sounded almost completely emotionless as he spoke, and for some reason that really hurt Harry.

"I'm sorry." It was a pitiful attempt at making up for what had happened, but Harry thought it was worth a try.

"Don't worry about it. Maybe another time Potter." And with that he carried on walking off to wherever he was going.

Harry stood, frozen in place for a moment, unable to comprehend what had just happened. He began to play the conversation over and over again in his mind, looking for the insult, searching for the snark, trying to find the disdain. But he couldn't. It seemed like, for the first time, Draco had given him an actual answer. And even suggested that he might want to play chess with him. The Gryffindor returned to the table with his friends, a million questions still in his head. Could it be some kind of trap? Why? What kind of trap? He sat back down, still a little disoriented. His friends were asking questions but they weren't quite registering.

"Harry? Harry!" He flinched and looked over towards the sound to see Hermione's worried face. "Harry what did he say? What happened?" She sounded worried, so Harry huffed a laugh to reassure her.

"Nothing much. I'm fine, don't worry. I just asked if he wanted to join us, and he declined."

"And thank Merlin for that!" Ron once again interjected unnecessarily, followed quickly by a loud, "OUCH! Why'd you step on my foot!" Hermione was glaring at him, and Harry was thankful that she at least saw that comment as unwanted.

"Let's just all move on okay? Leave him in peace and he'll return the favor, okay?" Harry attempted to plead with the group and thankfully this time they all agreed. And so Harry and Neville finished their game. Potter won, but Longbottom put up a really good defence. They laughed and shook hands before it was time for Hermione vs Ginny. Harry tried to pay attention, but his mind kept wandering back to Draco. The way he was acting was so unlike him. Was it just because he didn't have his gang around him? Or was something else going on? And why had he stayed this year for Christmas? He never stayed. Never ever. Not even once. Except for now. Why?

These thoughts stayed with Harry all day long. Through the rest of their chess games, into lunch, and then on through their walk through the grounds. But the whole time he didn't see the Slytherin again, not even at lunchtime. And for some stupid reason, that worried Harry. Why was he caring? Why did it matter? Why did he matter? The Gryffindor wasn't sure. So the thoughts floated around in his mind waiting for their answers until dinner time, when the blonde finally showed himself again. He still didn't actually have the answers, but now that Draco was in the vicinity he was at least a little less worried.

Yet still, during the meal, Harry glanced often behind him to the Slytherin table. Checking to see if he was there, if he was alright, if anything else had changed about him. Throughout the meal Draco kept reading his book, and so Harry made a mental note to find out exactly what book could be interesting him so vividly. Eventually the boy got up, book clutched to his chest, and left the Hall. Harry couldn't handle his curiosity any longer, so he told the others he would meet them in the common room and, without a second thought, followed Draco out of the Hall. He kept a bit of a distance between them in the hope that Malfoy wouldn't notice he was following him. This odd game of hiding and spying carried on all the way to the Library, where Draco entered, and Harry stayed outside a moment in utter bewilderment. Never, in all his years at Hogwarts, had he seen Draco Malfoy go into the library, willingly. Perhaps the Slytherin had done so in the past, but Harry had never seen it happen, so to him this was a very odd occurrence. He went in, acting as though he was there for some other reason than he really was. And found Draco sat at a table in the corner, reading his book. So he went over again telling himself that he was behaving perfectly normally and just looking out for a fellow student or something.

"Hey… didn't expect to see you here." Harry tried, but he sounded as uncertain of those words as he felt. Draco looked up from his book, raised an eyebrow, and smirked in a softer way than usual.

"Really Potter?" Harry's heart lept, and he suddenly realised what a terrible idea this all was. What if his friends were right, and this was some kind of elaborate plot against them. He was alone, his friends had no idea he was there, and with only his wand he was wildly unprepared for a fight. "Cause I'm pretty sure you followed me here all the way from the Great Hall. Didn't you?" Malfoy's smirk grew a second as Harry flushed slowly more and more red from embarrassment.

"Well I-I… um…" Draco chuckled softly at his utter mess of a response.

"Did you need something from me Potter?" The Slytherin nodded his head slightly and Harry decided to take that as permission to sit opposite him, which he did. Sadly, Draco shut his book and put it away before he could see what the title was, so Harry tried to form a decent sentence.

"Well, not need anything, no, just… it's about earlier. I expected you to insult me and walk off. Not actually consider the offer, though I'm glad you did." It took Harry all of his effort and focus not to stutter again. Malfoy's smirk softened further until it was more akin to a smile.

"Perhaps you just don't know me well enough." It sounded almost like a challenge, and the Gryffindor reacted without truly thinking.

"Perhaps I should change that." Wait, what was happening!? What was he doing!? Was he trying to flirt with Draco now!? The boy in question just continued to smile softly.

"That's up to you in the end. So why are you here Potter." Harry thought about that for a moment, before coming up with an actually sensible answer.

"I came to ask if you'd play that game of chess yet. Just me and you." The smirk returned to Malfoy's lips.

"Alright then, let's play."

Harry set the game up, and the pair played a few turns. But then somehow Draco had him in checkmate. The game had barely begun and already the Gryffindor had lost miserably. He was in utter shock. But Draco was as calm as could be.

"Checkmate Potter. Game over." He chuckled softly again and Harry had to suppress the shiver that provoked. Draco looked him up and down a moment before smirking once more. "Thanks for the game. Haven't played properly in a while. And who knows, maybe we could have a rematch. See you tomorrow Potter." And with that the Slytherin winked and left the library. Harry remained there utterly dumbfounded. And one question played on repeat in his mind.

_ Did Draco Malfoy just wink at me? _


	2. An Interesting Rematch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious note has Harry intrigued, but is it actually from who he thinks it's from? And will it lead to what he expects, or something else entirely?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again everyone! Thank you to all those who read and enjoyed chapter one! Special thank you to Dragon who left the first comment and warmed my heart <3 I didnt have time for the art so that will likely come out after Christmas now, so I apologise for that. Anyways! I hope you all enjoy chapter two! =D <3

It took Harry a little while to regain his senses enough to remember he needed to rush back to the common room. The others would probably be quite suspicious by now. As quickly as he could manage, Harry ran back to the Gryffindor Tower and in through the portrait. Everyone stared at him when he entered the room. He couldn't see this going anything other than Terribly.

"Where the Bloody Hell have you been Harry!?" Ron blurted out as eloquently as usual.

"I was looking for a book," Harry lied calmly, "couldn't remember the title so I just gave up in the end. Sorry I took a while."

Thankfully, that seemed to end the questioning, but Hermione was still giving him odd looks every now and then. Ginny had already started making the hot chocolates before he had arrived so it wasn't too long before they were all enjoying their warming drinks by the fire. Out of the blue, Neville suggested that they should try to make some s'mores using the fireplace. After spending a short while trying to explain what a s'more was to the rest of the group, they all made a total mess and had a good laugh attempting to make them.

Eventually, they couldn't manage to stay awake any longer. So they all said goodnight, and went to their respective bedrooms. The boys joked around for a while, until they began to fall asleep one by one. First was Ron, almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, followed shortly after by Neville, sound asleep in seconds. And then there was Harry. No matter how hard he tried, he could not fall asleep. Not even because of the cold chill in the air. He turned over, for the fifth time, and sighed softly. That wink was still on his mind. At this point he wasn't sure if he had, in fact, just imagined the whole thing. That thought made it even more difficult to get some meaningful rest.

When first light broke and came flooding in through the window, Harry's eyes opened automatically. He didn't remember when he actually fell asleep, but he was grateful to feel at least a little bit rested. He began his usual routine, stretching and trying to work out how he would wake Ron this morning. Just as he came up with an entertaining idea, involving itching powder and a pillow fight, there was a light tapping coming from the window. A, quite frankly, beautiful owl was perched there. It's feathers almost shimmered golden in the early morning light, it's eyes glistened gorgeously, and in its beak, there was a small note. Carefully, Harry opened the window and gently took the note from the owl, at which point, it flew away. Nervously, he unfurled the note, and went bright red almost immediately.

_'Rematch, Astrology Tower, tonight.'_

Those were the only words written in very neat cursive on the tiny slip of parchment in his hands. Surely it couldn't be from anyone else but Draco, right? It could have been Ron's idea of a prank, but Harry highly doubted that. After glancing at the time and realising how late in the morning it had gotten, he hurriedly got dressed, and the note ended up stuffed into his trouser pocket. In the chaos of receiving the owl, his plan to wake Ron utterly slipped his mind and so he shook his best friend awake instead, along with Neville.

"Come on guys! It's almost 10 O'Clock!" Neville was up and getting dressed right away, but Ron's only response was a small grunt as he rolled over. Harry rolled his eyes with exasperation before smirking slightly. He had an idea. He put on the most shrill voice he could muster and, in a crude impersonation of Molly Weasley, yelled at the top of his lungs. "RONALD WEASLEY!" That woke him up for certain, Harry was doubled over laughing so he couldn't see, but he could tell due to the obscene amount of swearing. Another perfect start to the morning.

Hermione was annoyed. Yet again. Thankfully her wrath didn't last too long as the group hurried down the stairs again, a little late for breakfast. When they entered the Hall, both Professor Dumbledore and Mrs McGonagal smiled softly at them and raised their teacups, so it seemed they weren't in that much trouble. But Harry's attention was soon drawn away to the Slytherin table, and the boy who was sat there, alone again. Part of him wanted to go over, offer Draco to join them, the other part of him knew that was a terrible idea. For a start, Draco seemed quite comfortable where he was, and secondly, Harry knew his friends would not be as kind as he would. They were still on high alert purely due to the Slytherin's presence in the castle. Goodness knows what Hell would break loose if he sat with them. Well, Harry could probably guess, and it wouldn't be pretty. So, ignoring his impulses, he sat down to eat with his friends.

Food appeared on the table before them almost as soon as they were seated, just as it usually did, and they all picked out their favorites and ate happily. Harry still couldn't help glancing every now and then at the table on the other side of the Hall. Draco had finished his food at this point and was reading once more. Straining his eyes as much as he possibly could, Harry was still unable to make out the title of the book that had the other boy so interested. He really couldn't stop his curiosity. Throughout the entirety of his time at Hogwarts, he had never seen Draco even set foot in the library, let alone be so engrossed in a book. Even so, Harry wasn't sure why he was so determined to find out which book it was. That surely didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

He tried to ignore his own thoughts for a while and focused instead on the conversation his friends were having. Said conversation was mostly a heated argument about Quidditch. Harry smiled and chuckled occasionally at how fiercely everyone was fighting over which team was the best. In all honesty, Harry didn't have a team he would defend that fiercely, he just enjoyed the sport overall. However the conversation had given him quite a good idea for something they could do today.

"Hey guys, why don't we go out on our brooms? We could play tag or something?" The others looked at him with mostly blank expressions.

"What's tag Harry?" Ginny asked politely, yet with a very confused tone of voice.

Harry facepalmed internally. "Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot you guys might not have played tag. So, it's basically a game where one person is 'it' and they chase the others trying to make them 'it' instead. Sound fun?" There were unsure looks shared among the group before everyone eventually nods.

"Why not," Ron said, kind of flippantly, "could be fun." Harry smiled softly as they continued on with their food and the conversation turned from argument to anticipation for the game they would soon be trying to play. When Draco inevitably got up and calmly left the Hall, Harry managed to resist the urge to follow him, and he counted that as a win. Obviously he wouldn't be able to resist going to the Astrology Tower tonight, but he could worry about that later on. For now, it was time for their game of broom tag, a concept that was still entertaining Harry immensely.

It was a brisk morning, the sharp Scottish wind wasn't exactly gale force, but it still felt as though it was freezing everyone's bones. Thankfully this didn't dampen their spirits as they all wrapped up warm and hopped onto their brooms. "Okay!" Harry announced far more loudly than was necessary, "Who is going to be 'it' first?" Everyone just sort of looked blankly at each other. "Okay I'll be 'it' first then, so I'll give you all a 5 second head start before I head off." Now everyone was smiling, game faces on. "Ready? GO!" They all launched off the ground and scattered in the sky as Harry counted to five. Four. Three. Two. One! He shot up into the sky after them, now he just had to work out who to go after first. Easy choice. Ron. Of course Ron. He leaned forward on his broom and sped up even faster, wind rushing through his hair. Harry doubted the feeling of flying on his broom would ever get old. He had never felt more alive than when he was in the air chasing as fast as he could. It was an amazing, unforgettable, and unbeatable feeling. Ron was still in his sights, and he was closing in on him. Eventually his best friend was within reach so he tapped his shoulder. "TAG! YOU'RE IT!" He laughed loudly and flew away as Ron spun round and went after Hermione. This truly was as fun as he had hoped it would be. Just by chance, he glanced over at the castle and could have sworn he saw Malfoy staring out of a window at them. He tried to shrug it off but made a promise to himself that he would try to start including Draco from now on if the Slytherin wanted to join.

The game continued for quite a while, no one wanting to give up and go back inside. But, when the light of day started to fade away and dusk set in, they had no choice but to return to the castle. After warming up with some more hot chocolate, they all prepared for dinner. Feeling an overwhelming nervousness all of a sudden, Harry stuffed his wand into his pocket. The note wasn't at all signed, he could be about to walk into anything, it was best to be prepared. And anyways, he would rather tell himself that than admit he was a little afraid of Draco right now. The boy was acting so strange and the paranoia of his friends had started to affect him as well. Perhaps Draco was planning something, and if that was the case, Harry would rather not go into this meeting unarmed. After he had justified that to himself for far too long, he pulled on a cozy jumper, grabbed the chess set, and followed the others down to dinner. When he was around his friends, Harry would often end up as the quiet one, just observing the others' conversations as he pretended to do something else. He liked it better that way. Yes, being the center of attention was fun sometimes, but it also tended to make Harry quite anxious, so around friends it was nice to be able to relax. Well, he would have been able to relax, if he wasn't hyper aware of Draco's presence in the Great Hall right now. He kept getting the feeling that the other boy was watching him, but each time he turned to check, Malfoy was still reading his book. And no matter how hard Harry tried to convince himself he didn't care, his mind wouldn't stop wondering what book it was and hoping to be able to ask the Slytherin about it later on.

Dinner passed by rather quickly and, thanks to all the exercise they got earlier, everyone was pretty tired. Everyone but Harry. His mind wouldn't stop racing. Wondering what was about to happen. Going through each and every outcome of all the situations he could invent. Unable to sit and wait any longer, Harry stood abruptly. It would probably look less suspicious if he left before Draco this time anyways. "I think I'm gonna go for a walk. Maybe look for that book again." He shrugged softly to try and make the situation seem a little more normal. "Don't wait on me it's fine I'll be back later." Without another word, but with a soft smile, he headed off into the corridors and towards the Astrology Tower. Paranoia was causing him to look over his shoulder every now and then and hide behind corners just to be certain no one was following him. As he climbed the tower steps he pulled his cloak tighter around him for warmth and made a mental not to cast some spells to warm the top deck area when he reached it. Every step he took he wondered what on earth he was doing, following the instructions he received in a random note from an owl he didn't recognise. It sounded so insane by the time he reached the top he couldn't help pacing as he placed his spells to warm up the area. Everything started getting far too much for him. The doubts. The panic. Harry was struggling to think of another time he felt this level of nervous. The TriWizard tournament was up there, but he was definitely more nervous in this moment. And when a floorboard creaked behind him he shocked himself with how badly he jumped. The chuckle that followed made him shiver more than the cold outside ever had.

"Scared Potter?" Draco asked, a quipping reference to their first actual duel. Harry couldn't help blushing but did his best to hide it as he turned around. The Slytherin was in a gorgeous suit, as always, and he began to wonder if the boy actually had any casual clothes at all.

When he came back to his senses he realised he hadn't answered or said a work since Malfoy arrived. His breathing was still a total mess but he pulled all of his strength together to attempt to respond, "You wish." In a jokingly sassy voice, however it ended up sounding a little more nervous than he intended, his fear regarding the situation leaking through into his tone of voice. Draco simply chuckled softly in response and smirked a little as Harry attempted to desperately bring back at least a little bit of his confidence. Words were utterly failing him, but the other boy just waited for him to speak again. "So um. I, er. I presume it was you who sent me that note this morning?"

"No, I just felt like climbing all the way up here in the middle of the night for no reason." Draco responded so nonchalantly Harry froze up immediately. It had to be him! Surely! Malfoy's straight face cracked into a smirk before he laughed heartily. "Of course it was me you idiot Potter! Who else would it be?" As Draco continued to laugh Harry began to relax, at least he had some knowledge of the situation now. The only uncertainty left was what Malfoy had meant by wanting a rematch, which unfortunately was the part of this situation that was making him the most anxious. Eventually he decided he should just ask what the other actually meant.

"Um, so, erm, what did you mean when you said 'rematch'?" Draco stuffed his hands into his pockets and shrugged softly.

"Anything really, another round of chess? But that might be a bit boring since the first round was last night, so something different? A duel maybe? Promise I'll fight fair this time." There was the wink again. Harry had to hold his breath to stop himself from collapsing on the spot, and desperately attempt to stop any sign of the effect the boy's words had on him from showing though. He had no idea if it was actually working though as Draco kept smirking and drew his wand. "Ready?" Malfoy held the wand up in front of his face, so Harry did the same and nodded. In truth he was not at all ready but he couldn't tell Draco that, so dueling seemed like the best option at this point. They took five steps away from each other, and then counted down together.

"Three, two, one!"

By the time Harry had spun around to face his opponent, Draco had his wand pointed directly at him. "Colloshoo!" His eyes widened and he tried to dodge or deflect the spell, but neither worked. His feet became fixed in place and his fear over the situation tripled. He cast his first spell in retaliation, he was already losing horribly.

"Expeliarmus!" It would have worked, it should have worked, but Draco was a lot faster than Harry anticipated. He sidestepped the spell and used protego for good measure. Harry tried to cast another spell but the Slytherin must have been practicing, he was still too fast. Or perhaps Harry's heart just wasn't in it.

"Petrificus totalus!" He hit the floor before he even realised the curse had hit him. And now he couldn't move at all. He had definitely lost by now, but the realisation he had just let himself be paralysed by his long term enemy was far more jarring. Draco was approaching, and he could do nothing to defend himself. "Wingardium leviosa." Harry felt himself being lifted off the ground until he was 'standing' again before Draco. "You lost again Harry." The boy smirked as he spoke and fear gripped Harry tighter. "Such a shame for you. Don't worry, we both know the effects will fade very soon." Malfoy gently stroked his arm, and sure enough, he felt it. "But before it does," the boy leaned in towards him, so close they almost shared the same breath, "I wonder what you'd do if you could move right now." His voice was barely above a whisper, and if Harry was honest with himself he didn't know the answer to that question either. Thankfully neither of them would find out at this moment, as Draco moved away again still smirking softly. "Time to let you go I think, I'll speed up the process." Harry almost began to panic at what exactly that would entail, but before he could, Draco cast another spell. "Rictusempra!" He felt that immediately, an uncontrollable tickling sensation that immediately overran all the other spells cast on him. He was laughing straight away with no idea how to stop or control his body anymore. The laughter took hold and he would have collapsed to the floor had Draco not caught him as he fell, that contact finally ending the torment.

Harry was utterly exhausted and almost breathless in the Slytherin's arms. The boy was still smirking, but there might have been a hint of concern there now as well. "You alright Harry?" He managed to nod a little and return the smile as Draco lowered them both to the ground. He held Harry for a while, softly stroking his hair, the pair of them completely lost in the moment. Sadly, Malfoy eventually came to his senses and stopped. He smiled the softest smile Harry had ever seen in his life, before quietly whispering, "See you tomorrow Potter." And laying him gently on the floor. The last thing Harry remembered was hearing the creek of the wood as Draco descended the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooh cliff hanger? Tee hee! Sorry! Chapter three should be posted on the 17th hopefully =D Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! <3


	3. Do you feel the same?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their duel, Harry is extreamly confused about which direction their relationship will end up going now. Unfortunately, most of Harry's friends don't make it any easier for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter does contain a lot of angst and an almost panic attack so if reading those things upsets you then I apologise and ask you not to read for your own safety.  
> Things will clear up by the end of this chapter so don't worry! All will be well very soon. Hope you enjoy everyone! <3 =D  
> P.S: If you find and understand a little reference in here then I just want you to know you are awesome! XD

Harry awoke, cozy in his bed in the Gryffindor common room. This appeared to be totally normal to him, until he remembered where he fell asleep. On top of the Astrology Tower after losing a duel against Draco. How on earth did he end up back here!? He began to wonder, was it actually all a weird dream, it all seemed so surreal anyways, maybe the Christmas holidays hadn't even begun yet? But a quick glance at his bedside table dispelled those worries immediately. There was a card standing there with a note written on it in very neat cursive, too neat even for Malfoy. It read;

_ 'One really should be careful where he falls asleep Harry. It is awfully cold up there this time of year. Thankfully a certain someone carried you down and brought you to me in a bit of a panic. So if you're wondering how you got here, now you know. -Professor Albus Dumbledore (P.S: We brought all of your things back too so there is no need to worry, see you at breakfast)' _

Harry stared blankly at the card for a while. He had no idea exactly how to process the information in the note. Draco carried him down from the tower and all the way to Dumbledore? But how was that possible when Harry could have sworn he heard Draco leave before he lost consciousness. He decided to ignore any more thoughts about last night for now and use this time to clear his head. Goodness knows if Draco would even want to talk to him today, but he would try and do so anyways. He needed to talk to him, he needed answers, desperately. What on Earth actually happened last night? They almost kissed, did that really mean anything? Or was Draco just messing with his feelings whilst he was powerless to get away? Too many questions. Too much going on. Too much! Harry took a deep breath, in, and out, in, and out, in, and out. His mind wandered, still trying to work things out as he curled up tightly on his bed.

After a little while of being like that, Harry felt a hand softly rest on his shoulder. He flinched, but kept his eyes screwed shut and curled up even more. If this was somehow Draco he might decide to just jump straight out the window, he just couldn't cope with that right now. The person soon decided to speak, and thankfully, it was not Draco. No jumping out of the window today. "Harry? Are you okay?" Neville sounded so genuinely concerned, but Harry just stayed curled up, unable to process any of this and dangerously close to a full blown breakdown. The hand on his shoulder squeezed him comfortingly before his friend spoke again. "Please don't get mad at me for asking, but what happened last night. The others all decided it was fine and that you were okay but I wasn't so sure. It's just you left so abruptly and-" Harry cut him off from finishing his sentence by unfurling and pulling him into a tight hug. Neville seemed shocked for a moment but happily returned the hug. The two of them sat just hugging in silence on Harry's bed for a while. For some reason Neville had an air of safety around him, Harry knew they could just hug for hours without him getting uncomfortable or thinking this was anything more than platonic. He could trust him, he was certain of that. It wasn't that he couldn't trust the others, he just knew that their opinions wouldn't be so unbiased, even in spite of the fact that draco had bullied Neville probably more than the others. He knew his heart was open to forgiving. Harry cried softly onto his friend's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Neville." He held his friend tighter, and he reciprocated.

"You don't need to apologise Harry, for anything. You're not wasting my time, you're not bothering me, you're not an inconvenience. Okay?" Harry cried a little more. No one else had ever told him that. In his entire life. Not a soul. Obviously he knew the others didn't think those things either, but it had never been confirmed before, so he still worried from time to time. He slowly nodded his head and Neville continued to hold him. There was another long bout of silence as Harry debated telling him what had happened between himself and Draco this holliday. He didn't want to betray Draco's trust obviously, but trying to hold it in was tearing him apart. After telling himself one more time that he could definitely trust Neville and Ron was definitely asleep, Harry broke the hug, took a deep breath and looked Neville in the eye.

"I've fallen in love Neville." He shut his eyes tightly. That was the first time he had said it out loud. The first time he had actually admitted it to himself or anyone else. Almost immediately he felt sick and started shaking. Neville pulled him into another hug and held him till the shaking subsided, and Harry knew in his heart he picked the right person to tell. Neville smiled gently at him, politely treading carefully around the subject, something Harry very much appreciated.

"Is it okay for me to ask who with?" His friend's voice was so cautious, Harry smiled softly and nodded, but couldn't meet his eye as he spoke.

"Draco. Draco Malfoy." He whimpered softly and clutched his chest, admitting that was difficult. He couldn't take it back now, couldn't pretend it was nothing, couldn't fake his feelings any longer. He said it again just to reaffirm with himself what his heart already knew. "I'm in love with Draco Malfoy." He looked up at Neville again, who was obviously shocked by this admission, but still smiling gently to reassure Harry he wasn't judging him for it. However, his expression changed to one of worry very soon after.

"Why would that be stressing you out so badly Harry? What happened last night?" The boy shook his head. He wasn't ready to answer that second question yet. There was another gap of silence as he tried to figure out how best to word his conundrum.

"I, I'm too terrified to tell him. I'm worried I'll, I'll lose what I've started to build with him. But I, it's tearing me apart. I need to know if he feels the same. But I, I don't want to put that pressure on him." He whimpered once again as Neville sighed softly and held him.

"I think if it's causing this much anxiety for you then you should talk to him. I'm sure he'd understand and if things changed it would only be for the better." Those words helped Harry relax a lot and he smiled again at his friend.

"Neville, thank you, that really helps." He began blushing softly and fiddled with his thumbs. He wanted to tell Neville everything now. How he kept losing every game they played, the romance of the duel last night, all of it. He felt a warmth in his heart, and decided it was telling him that this was the right thing to do. "We had a duel last night, Draco and I." Harry swooned softly and Neville looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"A duel!?" It had the tone of a shout but the volume of a whisper, and Harry chuckle softly.

"Yep. It was amazing!" He swooned again and told Neville everything. Eventually they were both chuckling on his bed about the crazy things that had happened over the past two days and Harry knew he had Neville to talk to whenever he needed. The others might take a while to warm up to the idea, but he had Neville's approval and right now that was all that mattered. He'd made a decision. He couldn't cope with hiding his feelings from Draco a moment longer. He had to know what Draco was actually feeling, if he was just messing with Harry, or if he actually felt this way about him. If the Slytherin really wanted to keep playing this strange game they could do so afterwards. He needed to talk to him, properly. Because if it was all one sided, if these feelings were Harry's alone, well, he wasn't sure what he'd do exactly, probably just back off a little and try approaching Draco again as just friends when his feelings had died down a bit. Whatever change happened it would be for the best.

When the laughing died down they both looked at Ron still asleep and smirked at each other. Wake up time. As they each grabbed a pillow they knew exactly what to do.

"PILLOW FIGHT!!!" Neville yelled at the top of his lungs as Harry laughed wildly and they both started thwacking Ron and each other with pillows. Eventually Ron woke up enough to join in and let out a loud battle cry before grabbing two pillows and just going haywire. When they were all too out of breath from laughter, they freshened up and got dressed, headed down to meet the girls.

"What on Earth happened up there!?" Hermione was the first to reprimand them as always, but Harry didn't care, his mood had improved exponentially and she was only ever concerned for their safety. "We heard screaming and things falling and-"

"Relax," Harry interrupted her "it was just a friendly pillow fight, nothing serious, we're fine." He still couldn't stop smiling, excited for the day ahead and eager to head down and talk to Draco.

"Told you so Hermione." Ginny muttered with a sigh. "Come on idiots we need to head down for breakfast again." Harry raised an eyebrow at Ginny's mood but said nothing more about it. It was probably nothing. They met Luna on the way down and headed into the Great Hall all laughing and joking. Well that was until Harry noticed something very off. Draco wasn't there. The Slytherin table was empty and that was very obviously wrong to Harry. Not once these last two days had they walked into the Hall before the other boy had. The only other one to take notice was Neville, who placed a hand gently on his shoulder and offered an expression that told him to relax and that everything would be fine. Luna probably noticed too, she was very perceptive like that, but she made no comment, just smiled as always. Harry sat down, still a little uneasy, but felt secure in the company of Neville. He told himself everything would be okay, shared a nod of understanding with Professor Dumbledore, and began eating. Albeit slowly. 

Why wasn't Draco here yet? He looked back at Professor Dumbledore anxiously, wanting to ask what happened after he fell asleep, but Dumbledore nodded towards the entrance to the Hall. Harry turned to see the Slytherin walk in clutching his book, and sit down. He looked a mess. Well, a mess by Draco's usual standards. His tie was a bit wonky, his hair a little out of place, and he wasn't wearing his blazer. Now Harry was more worried than ever. What had happened to make the other boy such a mess? What had he missed last night? A hand gently squeezed his clenched fist and Neville smiled softly at him. That helped him relax a little, but he kept glancing at the other boy. Draco had very clearly noticed this and seemed a lot more closed off than normal. His shoulders were up and little and he gripped his book as though his life depended on it. Harry looked at Neville again who tried to offer another comforting expression, so he forced himself to relax and keep eating. But when Draco got up to leave the Hall, his face not rising from the floor, Harry decided that enough was enough and got up to follow him. "Meet you guys later." Everyone looked confused, well, everyone but Neville and Luna, who smiled and waved, Neville mouthing a 'good luck' to him.

It didn't take long for him to catch up to Draco, smiling hopefully as he approached. "Hey." Draco actually jumped at that, and Harry frowned with concern. "Draco hey what's up?" The boy shrugged a little, trying to act like it was nothing, but when Harry gently stroked his arm he could feel the shiver of fear. "Draco what happened? Last night after our duel you laid me down and I fell asleep. What happened after that?" Almost immediately, Draco broke down in tears and threw his arms around Harry, his cherished book clattering to the floor.

"Harry, I'm so sorry!" The boy held on tight and so he returned the favor.

"What for?" He was beyond confused. What happened after he fell asleep.

"Everything!" Draco wailed in desperation. "The duel, my cockiness, all of it! I almost left you up there Harry you could have gotten ill because of me and I-" Harry gently stroked his hair to calm him and he stuttered to a stop.

"Draco relax. That duel was amazing fun. I loved it. And you didn't leave me up there, you carried me all the way down like an idiot." He moved the other boy back slightly so he could meet his gaze. "What if you slipped and fell? Hmm? What then?" Harry could see the sentence forming in Draco's mind, as it would have been his response too, so he interrupted. "And don't you dare say that you don't matter cause that's not true okay?" Slowly the boy nodded and Harry held him close again. "Let's go for a walk? Hmm?" Draco nodded softly so Harry dried the boy's eyes and went to help him pick up his things. Unfortunately he didn't get to read the title of the book yet again before Malfoy had shoved it into his bag. So he decided to just ask this time, why not. "What is that book that has you so interested?"

"Not telling." The boy smirked softly and Harry relaxed, that was better, back to normal. He chuckled.

"So is that why you were a mess this morning?" He asked, as if he hadn't been one himself.

"Oh shut up Potter." That was a yes then. Harry laughed heartily and Draco soon joined in. This was much better. Laughing and smiling, not crying alone worried about what the other was thinking. He felt a little more confident about telling Draco how he felt now, but he'd do it a little later into their walk. Somewhere nice and romantic. The boy next to him kept making his heart melt and turn his legs to jelly as the looked at each other and chatted walking around the grounds. It was just as freezing cold as yesterday, if not colder, so when a snowflake landed on Draco's nose he wasn't that surprised. The boy shivered a little and Harry held him a little closer. "Damn it. I forgot my jacket. Maybe I should head back in and-" Before the Slytherin even made it to the end of that sentence, Harry had wrapped him in his gryffindor scarf and was casting a warming spell around them. Malfoy blushed but tried to look fake disgusted. "Ugh, red is not my colour." It was Harry's turn to smirk.

"Oh really? Cause it looks really good on your face right now." He chuckled as Draco blushed more, then he took the boys hand and span him around like a dancer. "I think you look fabulous darling." This only made the blushing worse and Harry smiled. This was the time. He couldn't think of a better time than now. "Draco, I." Great, of course he had to start stuttering. "I, wanted to say something. But I want you to know it doesn't come with any obligations on your part or anything like that. I just think I need to say it. So. I'm sorry." Malfoy looked more nervous than Harry felt as the held hands both dreading and expecting the worst. "I, I think I'm falling in love with you. I'm sorry if you don't feel the same I promise it won't change the way I am around you I just-" Draco placed a finger to Harry's lips to stop him talking, then covered his whole mouth with his hand. But Harry didn't at all expect what came next. The boy gently leaned in close, then kissed the back of his hand that was over Harry's mouth. His eyes went wide and his face went red almost immediately.

"I think that should suffice as an answer for now." Draco's smirk was back and Harry swooned harder than ever. "We can kiss properly soon, I just want to make you wait a little longer." He chuckled and winked again and Harry didn't bother trying to hide the effect that had on him this time.

"Draco, you are perfect. Just so you know." That had him blushing again and Harry smiled. "Let head back in before we both catch colds." He took the other boys hand and led him back into the castle. They chased each other through the corridors and halls for a while just laughing and having fun before they made it back to the Great Hall. Only then did Malfoy hesitate. Just before the entrance. He just stopped. "Draco? What's wrong?" The boy whimpered slightly.

"Your friends are in there. Probably. I, don't. I'm sorry Harry. But I'm not comfortable with them yet. I was horrible to them. They won't understand." Harry whimpered softly. He knew that was true but he didn't want to leave Draco out.

"I understand. I forgave you." Draco sighed softly. "I'll be right there. I'm sorry love."

"Okay. Okay. Let's go." He managed a smile but Harry knew he was still extremely nervous. All he could do now was hope that his friends would let their prejudice go. He knew Neville and Luna would be good. But the other three, he wasn't so sure. They entered the Hall together, though not holding hands anymore, just so it was a little less obvious, and found the others were helping Professor Raine to decorate one of the trees in the Hall. Well this should be a nice activity to start on at least. He lead Draco to the others.

"Hey guys, we're back, mind if we join in?" Harry smiled brightly and got mostly smiles back, until Ron noticed Draco behind him and frowned angrily. Thankfully he said nothing and instead Luna greeted them.

"Well of course you can. Grab some decorations from the Professor." She smiled sweetly. "You too of course Draco." Harry thanked whatever forces were above that at least Luna was nice and welcoming. Neville was still a little nervous but smiled softly at least. The other three didn't even acknowledge Draco's presence. He sighed and went over to the Professor to get some decorations and start hanging them up.

As they all worked together everything seemed calm and happy. Harry kept smiling every now and then at Draco, and he smiled back. All was well for a while, until Professor Raine moved onto a different tree. That's when the insults started.

"Why do we need his help?" Hermione sneered. It was only a whisper, but very clearly meant to be heard. Harry sighed loudly. There was no need for this. Bullying Draco back just makes them as bad as he was. It's pointless.

"Yeah." Ginny huffed in agreement. "It's not like he's doing anything useful anyways." Such snide comments from people he considered his friends. It wasn't sitting right with Harry at all. Or Luna it would seem.

"That's not nice guys." Luna said, but carried on as she was. Hermione sighed loudly and Harry knew this wasn't going to end well. He put an arm protectively in front of Draco as she approached.

"I'll tell you what's not nice! He's not nice!" She pointed angrily at Draco who whimpered from behind Harry's arm.

"Hermione for goodness sake drop it." She growled at him so he stood in her way.

"Move Harry!"

"No. Leave him alone. Forgive and forget Hermione." She was still in a rage so Harry didn't move from where he was. Professor Raine attempted to break up the fight, but he was certain that wouldn't work either.

"Miss Granger stop now or I will have to remove you from the Hall."

"I will not stop! He is a foul loathsome evil little cockroach!" That was the last straw. Draco ran out of the Hall as fast as he could, ignoring both Harry and the Professor as they called after him.

"I hope you're proud of yourself Hermione." Harry said through gritted teeth. She had gone way too far, Ron, Ginny and herself had all been horrible. There was no need for it and Harry wouldn't stand for it. He ran out of the Hall as well, chasing after Draco until he is close enough to reach for his arm. "Draco!" The other boy pulls his arm violently away from Harry's reach.

"Stay away from me Harry! Just stay away!" Harry's heart almost shattered immediately, but he had to stay strong, had to fight for this. "They will never understand me! Never know what I've been through! So there's no point in trying! Just give up on me Harry!" The Gryffindor's head was already shaking.

"No. I'm not going to lose you. They will learn to understand or I won't want to know them. I won't let you be alone anymore." Tears were streaming down both of their faces at this point. So Harry almost didn't see Draco draw his wand.

"Forget about me Potter. Go back to your friends and forget about me. Or I'll make you forget about me." Harry knew what he meant by that. He wouldn't let himself be obliviated by his love. As calmly as he can manage he gently takes Draco's shaking wrist and lowers it so the wand points at the ground.

"You know neither of us would want that Draco. I don't want to forget you. I'd rather forget them right now." Malfoy whimpers softly at that so Harry carries on, desperate to fix this mess. "You make me so happy. Unbelievably happy. Probably the happiest I've ever been Draco. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." A soft smile returned to his love's face.

"You make me so happy too Harry. So so happy. I never thought I could be this happy. And I am truly sorry for everything I've ever done." Harry smiled and wiped his eyes. He reached out and stroked Draco's face softly.

"I know. I forgive you. But if we both make each other happy we don't deserve to lose this. Forget what everyone else thinks, I don't care. I will defend you no matter what Draco. Okay?" His love whimpered slightly.

"But Harry. They're your friends." Harry smiled softly and closed the remaining distance between them, one hand holding Draco's, the other resting on his cheek.

"Yes. But you are so much more than that." Closing his eyes, Harry leaned in gently, and kissed Draco with all the love and affection he could muster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a rollercoaster. Sorry about that guys XD More fluff from now on I promise I just felt a bit angsty writing this chapter. Anyways! I hope you all enjoyed, next chapter will be up on the 19th hopefully. See you then! <3  
> Also thank you to all those who have left kudos and bookmarked this, you are all awesome thank you so much! =D


	4. All or Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first kiss, and Harry is on a total high. The pair end up hiding away for the night together. Thankfully the castle helps with that. However, after the disaster that was yesterday, Harry isn't feeling very forgiving. But something quickly changes his tune.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thank you to all the new readers who are enjoying the story as well! Love you all! <3

The kiss lasted for what felt like hours. Just gently sharing their affections, hands running through each others hair, holding the other closer. Neither boy had ever felt anything quite like it. True happiness. Being close to one and other. It felt like this was all they would need for the rest of eternity.

Eventually the kiss broke, and they couldn't stop smiling at each other like idiots. Harry immediately wanted to kiss him again, and couldn't stop stroking his hair. Draco was blushing bright red again and the two of them enjoyed a bit of comfortable silence together in the corridor. Well, it was silent for a little while, until they heard a shout coming from around the corner.

"Potter!? Malfoy!?" Harry's eyes went wide. It was Professor Raine, he must have gone after them. After miming a shhhh to the other boy, he grabbed his hand and started running as quietly as possible away from their Professor. Harry didn't feel like finding out whether or not either of them were in trouble, especially his Draco. Also, he didn't feel like going back to the dorm tonight either, so he was keeping his eye out for anywhere the pair could sleep for the night. At that moment he saw a large door began to appear at the end of the corridor they were running down. A smirk spread across his face as they ran towards the door.

"Harry where are we going and why?" Draco sounded confused yet excited and Harry's smile grew.

"You'll see in a second so for now be quiet so we can shake the Professor." Draco almost sassed him back but they could hear him gaining on them so they sped up and Harry led them into the door in front of them. They closed the door carefully behind them and waited with bated breath until the voice that was following them faded into the distance. At which point Harry couldn't stop giggling. Goodness knows what trouble they would be in when they were found. But for now, they were alone and safely hidden. Draco was a little out of breath and giggling as well. 

"So, ready to tell me what in Merlin's name we are doing right now?" Harry chuckled again at that remark. He guessed he deserved that level of sass in return for basically telling Malfoy to shut up.

"We're escaping Draco. If just for tonight. I asked the castle to give us somewhere safe to spend the night, and tada! The Room Of Requirement." He smiled softly and pulled Draco further into the room. There was a nice bed, covered in cozy blankets, and even two dinners set out on a table. Harry mentaly thanked the castle for letting the two of them stay here for the night, and lead Draco to the table. "Your dinner sir." He said in an overly posh accent. They both laughed loudly at that and sat down to enjoy dinner just the two of them.

It was shockingly refreshing to be able to be alone with Draco. They were both opening up and Harry was falling even harder for him than he first thought possible. To be alone together after everything that happened today just felt completely amazing. The Slytherin softly stroked his hand to get his attention. "Are you sure about staying here and not going back to your dorm?" Harry smiled softly and nodded.

"I'm certain. Come," he pulled Draco gently towards the bed, "let's get some sleep love." The other boy nodded and yawned softly so they clambered into the bed together and cuddled up in each other's arms. And Harry had never felt more safe and secure to sleep than he did then.

The chime of a clock woke Harry up when morning broke. He smiled softly at Draco who was sleeping soundly in his arms. Now this, this was perfect. He stroked the Slytherin's hair gently and his eyes fluttered open, and Harry decided that was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. "Morning love." He smiled broadly and the boy in his arms blushed but smirked again as well.

"Good morning Harry you gorgeous person." They both laughed at how dorky he managed to make that sound before sitting up, still wrapped in blankets. The Gryffindor noticed two neat piles of clothes on the table where they ate, and thanked the castle again.

"Looks like the room knew we'd need a change of clothes." He chuckled softly and started to get up, but the other boy tugged on his arm lightly.

"Hold me just a little while longer Harry?" Harry doubted anyone could resist the other's pleading eyes, so he sat back down and held Draco for a little while longer. He had to admit, sharing affection with his love did feel far too good to get up just yet. However, the need to change clothes was pressing as well, given the fact that he and Malfoy slept in the outfits they wore yesterday, he doubted either of them felt that comfortable right now. Jeans were not nice to sleep in. At all. Never again. He chuckled to himself as the other boy gently rested his head on his chest. Almost automatically, Harry was stroking his hair again. It felt so soft and smooth he just couldn't resist. Not to mention it smelled really good too. Draco in general smelled really good, all the time. He realised he should probably stop thinking about how good the boy smelled and instead work oit where their relationship stood now, so he spoke with a cautious tone.

"Um, so, love, can I just ask, what does this make us? Like, what are we to each other?" Well that wasn't exactly what he was trying to say but he stuttered so much he just sort of gave up.

"Whatever we want to be." His love responded in a very relaxed manner. Given the fact that this was not at all the answer he was looking for, he tried again.

"Well I um, I mean, will you be my boyfriend, Draco Malfoy?" There was a short while of silence as the boy leaned up off of his lap to meet his gaze.

"Harry Potter, of course I will, if you'll be mine." Harry didn't realise he was holding his breath until Draco answered and he let out a large sigh of relief. He knew that the Slytherin was taking the mickey out of him by using his full name as he had just done, but that didn't matter. It was a yes. That's all that mattered. He got out of bed, pulling his boyfriend out with him, just so he could pick him up and spin him around the room, smiling like an idiot, before kissing him once again. They got dressed after that, the room thankfully providing private places for them to do so, and prepared themselves to head to the Great Hall for breakfast. Last night Harry had shouted at his friends, they had ran from a teacher, and disappeared entirely, so understandably, he was very nervous about returning to the world outside this little secret room. But they both decided it was probably time to head back and face whatever consequences they had incurred.

They left the Room Of Requirement hand in hand, still smiling stupidly at one and other, and headed toward the Great Hall. Whatever was about to happen, they would face it together. However, just as they reached the door, Draco hesitated. "Are you sure we shouldn't just keep hiding? I'm not sure I'm ready yet." Harry sighed softly and held him for a while.

"I'm here. I will protect you. From anything. Okay?" He got a soft nod in response so he kissed his boyfriend's cheek and they entered the Hall. All of his friends where there already, the only two who looked happy to see him were Neville and Luna, so he gave them a polite wave and led Draco to the Slytherin table, where he sat with him. He wasn't about to sit with the others after yesterday. If they wanted to apologise properly he would accept, if not, it really didn't matter to him. Well that was a lie, of course it mattered, but in this moment Draco mattered that little bit more. He glanced at the teachers table and was shocked to actually see both Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagal smiling at the pair of them. Professor Raine was giving them a sideways smile which seemed to suggest that he would have a word with them later but they wouldn't have to face serious punishment. 

Harry chuckled softly before turning back to his boyfriend and starting to eat with him.

A short while into the meal, he felt Malfoy softly kick his foot under the table and nod towards where his friends were sat. He turned just in time to see Neville approaching the table with his plate of food, he sat next to him with a nervous smile. Harry smiled in return, glad that his friend had tried to conquer his fear to come and help Draco feel welcome. "Hi there." Neville wasn't looking but Draco was smiling so broadly at him.

"Hi Neville, it's nice to properly talk to you. Um, I'm sorry for everything that's happened in the past." Harry could tell how desperately Draco meant all of that, but Neville was still a little wary.

"It's alright. That's the past. You make Harry happy so that's what matters." He glanced up for a moment and the two shared a sweet smile that warmed Harry's heart. If they could all get along that would be completely perfect in Harry's mind. It wasn't too long before Luna had skipped over and sat beside Draco with an intelligently absent-minded comment about Wrackspurts, which caused him to chuckle softly. But when Harry heard a familiar voice behind him he tensed up immediately.

"Hello everyone." She spoke with a very strained voice and he was almost too afraid to turn around and face her. He replied with a carefully calculated tone.

"Hello Hermione." Harry made eye contact with Draco who nodded for him to look up at her, so reluctantly he turned around to look at his friend and was quite shocked by what he saw. Her eyes look red raw from what he presumed was crying, but he was too afraid to let his guard down fully just yet. "Hermione what's wrong? What happened? Wha-" Before he was able to finish she burst into tears and threw her arms around him.

"Harry I was so horrid and I'm so sorry! I don't know why I did it I just panicked and-" Her own sobs cut her off and he did his best to comfort her, even though he was still mildly annoyed. Still, he managed a gentle tone of voice to respond to his apology.

"I appreciate that, but I'm not the one you really need to apologise to Hermione." She nodded in understanding and dried her eyes before looking at Draco.

"I, um. I'm sorry Draco. It's difficult for me to forgive sometimes, but I went too far last night. It may still be difficult for me to trust you. But Harry trusts you. So I won't get in the way of that." Harry shrugged softly, that was good enough for now he supposed, and Draco was smiling so that was enough for him.

"I get that Hermione. I have been a foul loathsome evil little cockroach in the past but I'm hoping to fix what I've done with you all and move forward." He turned his smile to Harry and the pair of them blushed before holding hands across the table. Hermione's eyes went a little wide in shock, but Harry didn't care, he'd found the love of his life and that's all that mattered. Eventually she smiled and took a seat next to Harry, and soon the two Weasleys had joined them as well. Ginny muttered an apology and Ron just sort of shrugged but didn't make much of a comment. Well, at least they were all back together again and could move forward as a group rather than apart.

Soon they were all chatting and laughing again, a couple of quipping comments about Slytherin and Gryffindor rivalries that thankfully made everyone chuckle. Harry couldn't stop staring into Draco's eyes and when Ron made a teasing comment Hermione whacked him with a book and everyone laughed again. Professor Raine was still glancing at them every few minutes, which Harry supposed was him checking on the situation. Unfortunately, it wasn't too long before he heard the professor call his surname and make a 'come here' motion with his hand, so he got up and walked over nervously. "Yes sir?" Raine scrutinised him for a moment before speaking.

"Are you alright Potter?" Harry was a little confused by the question, but answered nonetheless.

"Yes sir, of course." The Professor nodded slowly, one hand still rested on his hip.

"You ran away from me yesterday didn't you." Harry bit his lip and had no idea how to respond to that. "I thought so." The Professor's eyes narrowed a moment before he relaxed and smiled. "Well as long as you're safe and happy, I don't have any complaints." Harry nodded and smiled.

"Thank you Professor. Sorry we ran away yesterday. Have a nice day sir." The Professor nodded so Harry rushed back to the table with an idea for something they could do together with their day.

"Guys! Guys! I have an idea of something we could do today!" He was glad to see that everyone was still talking and smiling when he got back.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Draco gave him a subtle wink and Harry almost fainted.

"U-um." Great, now he was stuttering, and Malfoy was smirking broadly at him. "So, well, if we can sneak into the kitchens then we could have a go and doing some christmas baking." That brightened Hermione's expression immediately, Harry suspected it would, some nice home comforts.

"No need to sneak Harry." He almost jumped out of his skin hearing Dumbledore's voice so suddenly behind him. "You'll all be welcome in the kitchens, so have fun." The Headmaster gave them all a wry smile before heading off out of the Hall. They all laughed when he was gone about how badly Harry had just been caught out, but also they were glad they had permission to go to the kitchens. So with one final mouthful of food they all rushed down to the kitchens, and Harry happily held Draco's hand again. He couldn't quite describe how nice it felt to do so.

When they reached the kitchens they quickly set up some areas to bake in and decided to make some cinnamon spiced cookies, which was a lot more difficult than it first sounded. Neville clumsily opened a bag of flour and ended up with it all over his face, which of course made everyone laugh, especially when he started doing impressions of all the ghosts around the castle. Hermione was trying to be sensible but with Ron beside her that didn't last long and they ended up arguing over the method. Ginny and Luna got a bit too distracted chatting with each other which just stressed Hermione out more. Meanwhile Draco and Harry had started their own batch to avoid the argument over allspice. "Is it always like this?" Draco asked in the middle of a chuckle, Harry nodded with a smirk.

"Just you wait, I guarantee in a minute there'll be a-" He wasn't even able to finish his sentence before Ron shouted at the top of his lungs.

"FOODFIGHT!!!" Harry burst out laughing as Ron went to throw flour at Hermione but she avoided it and it hit Neville instead. The next second a handful was hurtling towards them so harry ducked down and pulled Draco with him.

"Yeah, one of those." Draco laughed almost in disbelief before they heard Ron again.

"Stand up and face me like men!" That earned him a slap from Hermione and they all laughed again. Harry mimed a 'shhh' to draco as he carefully cracked an egg into a bowl and then proceeded to use that like a catapult to fling the egg over the bench towards Ron. However the feminine squeal from the other side of the kitchen told him he'd missed his target.

"Sorry Hermione!" They still couldn't stop laughing together under the counter as they heard her noises of disgust.

"You two better get up now!" It was Hermione, she sounded a little annoyed but also like she was having the time of her life. The two of them smiled at each other and accepted their fate before standing up and getting pelted from all directions with flour. The kitchen had descended into chaos, yet somehow, at the end of the day, they left with a tin of star shaped cookies they had somehow made. They tasted amazing, and Harry suspected the elves had a hand in it, so everyone thanked them on their way out. "That was amazing!" Hermione announced happily. It had been a long time since Harry had seen her quite that happy, but he was glad he was able to come up with a nice activity that cheered her up.

After a nice dinner together it was time to head back to the dorms, but Harry asked if he could meet them at the dorm in a while instead of going with them immediately. Thankfully they all got the hint and waved as they headed off up to the common room. Draco raised an eyebrow questioningly but Harry just smiled and led him back up to the Astronomy Tower. "I thought we could stargaze for a little while, maybe." Draco smiled softly.

"A bit cloudy for that tonight, don't you think?" Harry sighed at that but nodded in agreement. "So what did you really want to talk about?" His boyfriend leaned in and kissed him softly.

"I don't like the idea of you sleeping alone again tonight." Draco sighed but smiled and held Harry's cheek gently in his hand.

"Harry, my darling, don't worry about me. You'll see me soon enough tomorrow, I promise." They kissed again, passionately, yet gently, and Harry swooned into his boyfriend's arms. The Slytherin chuckled softly and held him close. "Come on love. Let's get to bed. The sooner we sleep, the sooner we get to see each other again. Harry finally conceded defeat so they headed back down and kissed once more before they parted ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, and that it made up for the utter angsty mess that was yesterday <3 Apologies that it's up so late, almost didnt get it finished but I'm glad it's here just about on schedule =D Next chapter I hope to get up on the 21st but work may get in the way of that so I apologise in advance! Love you all!


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